Summary: Rhetorical Analysis In The United States Of America In 1832

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Alicia Morales Hernandez Mr. de Melo ENG3UA.2 12 June 2024 Question 1: Rhetorical Analysis In The United States of America in 1832, perhaps the most unfortunate human being was a black woman. Even the few black Americans who were fortunate enough to evade slavery were only free from the label “slave”, for they were still left to face the hell of social and economic scrutiny, and their fate was still predetermined by racist presumption. In her Boston lecture, Author Maria W. Stewart utilizes a patriotic appeal in her introduction and subverts the prejudices of her audience in her body argument to question the character of the white oppressor, then signalling to the listener that black Americans in the 1830s were treated as underlings of the …show more content…

Instead, Stewart encourages the reader to ponder with rhetorical questions, “And have you not a similar class among yourselves?”, and advises the listener to consider “why” things are that way. This is done because the listener can easily gather the answer; it is their fault. The speaker’s subtlety and illusions of endless labour make it evident that they are tired of being slaves or adjacent to slaves, and of course, the only ones to blame for that are the slave owners. Without an explicit statement, the speaker manages to lead the listener to address their bias and recognize that black people in the United States are not lazy—they are tired of doing all of the white man’s work with no return. Then, to solidify the listener’s response, the speaker uses repetition to emphasize their sense of accountability. In the body of her argument, Stewart applies an emphatic tone, beginning with “Again”, so the listener cannot ignore her and must acknowledge her claim. By reversing the counterargument and calling the listener to self-reflect, Stewart manages to assertively call the listener to action and create deep personal

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